VERVE

The next morning in Monterey we woke up and visited a local breakfast place called "First Awakenings" where I had a great mushroom and salmon benedict. From there we headed to the Monterey aquarium which was wonderful! I love a good aquarium :) I could just sit all day though in front of the jelly fish, I don't really need much else. But this one also had a large tank in a dimly lit room with a large school of sardines and several other fishes. The kids were entirely enamored with the room and we got several good shots of them there.





After the aquarium we drove up to Santa Cruz in search of Verve, the roaster they featured at "The French Press" and also featured in this month's issue of "Imbibe" magazine. It was tucked down towards the water on 41st and surrounded by vintage shops and surf stores. We only had a few minutes while Dad and Herc stayed with the kids, but I had the insight to ask the Barista, Ian, to make me his best coffee. The cappuccino he made me was to die for. I can honestly say it was the best coffee I've ever tasted. It was rounded, beautiful and full of berry notes with just a hint of citrus. It was a wet processed Ethiopia Sidamo and while I've alway been fond of the Ethiopian varieties, I've never had one so amazing. I'd bought a lb. of Panama and regretted not buying the Sidamo, but I'm hoping I might be able to buy some from "Barista" in Portland who periodically features them. It was amazing. Amazing. Have I mentioned it enough? Amazing. Kristen agrees completely. Nothing like it. Amazing. After coffee we hit up a place called "Kelly's French Bakery" where I had a gruyere, gorgonzola and apple panini and a mango iced tea. From there we split up from Dad and Herc and went to explore surf shops before heading back.







We'd had lunch at the opposite side of Santa Cruz from Verve, so we decided we'd wind our way back along the beach front to Verve and stop at any interesting surfy places along the way. As we wound along we saw a great beach with lots of surfing and decided to get the kids and hop out. It was a process to get ourselves and the kids dressed and then get everyone covered in sunscreen and safely to the beach, but we made it :) Jack, again, wanted to stop and dig in the sand, and Kate wanted to run straight into the water, so Kristen and I split up duties and I took Kate down to the waves. She loved the water, so long as it never lapped up higher than her ankles. After a few minutes Kristen wanted to go take pictures of the surfers, so I kept both kids further up on the sand and let them dig. But Jack looked like he was curious of the water, so, the three of us walked down and let the water splash up on us. That was awesome until a wave hit them both square in the face. Then we were pretty done. But we made it for a good 30-40 minutes before that! On our way out we asked a surfer and found out we were on the 26th Ave. Beach. We walked back and tried to figure out how to get them free of sand, dried off and back in the car, that took another 15 or 20 minutes. Then we headed off again to get another amazing, delicious, scrumptious, happy cappuccino before heading out again.



Again, it was perfect.

We drove up the coast and stopped just north of Half Moon Bay at a place known by surfers as "Maverick's", which is known for being one of the only mainland U.S. places to do big wave surfing. It was a little off the beaten path and once we got "there" there was still a small hike out around a cliff bend to see the spot about 1/2 mile off shore where the waves happen. It's incredibly dangerous, and only the most experienced surfers even try it. Those who shouldn't go out there sometimes do and many have died on the rocks and cliffs nearby. They took about 40 minutes to hike out, get pictures and come back and it was all at sunset, so she got some pretty great shots.




From Maverick's we drove up highway 1 and stopped in Pacifica at a great mexican restaurant. It's kind of ridiculous our luck with good food so far on this trip. WIth the exception of our ONE fast food stop we've had great luck with finding great places to eat. We had really been craving mexican food, but needed something to-go worthy for the car so we could continue the extra hour plus past San Francisco and Oakland into Benicia. We ordered two "Special Quesedillas" , they were like great big burritos filled with saucy chicken, and all the usual things you'd find on top of one rather than in one. Nom nom nom!

The rest of the drive was uneventful but when we got into Dad's house we had some wine and a great night's rest after another long, but wonderful day.